Will quirky Emmy noms affect ratings?

Does anyone care about the Emmys?
On the flip side, the academy and TV industry could consider the fuss a welcome sign — proof that someone still cares about the awards, which lack the cachet of big brother Oscar and have less room for error when it comes to drawing viewers.

Millions more regularly watch TV than go to movies. One episode of a top-rated show like “American Idol” can draw 30 million or more viewers; in its recent record-breaking opening weekend, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel was seen by about 20 million people.

But the Emmys, marking their 58th year, attract far fewer viewers than the Academy Awards.

The 2005 TV awards, with a big ratings bounce from fans of “Lost” and Desperate Housewives” eager to see if their favorites claimed Emmy gold, drew 18.5 million viewers. The latest Oscar telecast had its second-worst showing in two decades and still drew close to 39 million viewers.

Conan O’Brien, returning for a second stint as Emmy host, knows he faces an uphill ratings battle. Moved away from its traditional September home because of NBC’s addition of Sunday-night football to its schedule, the ceremony is airing during TV’s least-watched month.

“There’s a part of me that wants to be part of a very hot, sweaty, low-rated telecast, filled with controversy that makes all critics angry because they think the wrong people were nominated,” O’Brien joked, and then turned serious.

“Regardless of how many people watch the Emmys, I feel like I’m part of something I believe in. ... I think television’s never been better, the quality of the writing and the stuff is so well-produced, and you have actors like Hugh Laurie, who I’m sort of in awe of, and shows like ‘House’ and ‘24.”’

Can be a ratings blessing for winners
If the Emmys lack ratings luster, can they hope to measure up to the Academy Awards in terms of financial windfall? Oscar’s blessing, experts say, holds the possibility of adding tens of millions of dollars to the box-office gross for a best-picture winner.

An Emmy Award’s value can eclipse that, O’Neil argues.

When voters give an award to a struggling but worthy series like “All in the Family,” “Cheers” or “The Practice,” it can mean salvation. And when those shows end up running for years the advertising and syndication revenue can reach the billion-dollar range, he said.

For individual winners, the payoff may be strictly an ego boost. Consider O’Brien, who received an award in 1989 as a “Saturday Night Live” writer.

“The most disappointing conversation you can have in your life is to talk to your agent after you win an Emmy and say, ‘Wow, what are we going to do with all this momentum?’ I remember saying that to my agent. And he looked at me, like, ‘What are you? Stupid?’

Writer Melissa Jo Peltier, a two-time Emmy winner, said the awards meant zero financial gain. But her successful writer-director husband, John Gray (“Ghost Whisperer”) is wistful over being Emmyless thus far.

“He’d just like to have one some day. It’s like Phi Beta Kappa,” she said.

If anyone should know the benefit of an Emmy it’s Dennis Franz (“NYPD Blue”), a four-time winner. While congratulatory calls from friends and co-workers ebbed by the third and fourth trophies, that’s when the career advantage, including movie offers, kicked in.

“Professionally, after one, I don’t know that it changes a great deal. After multiple ones, you find there are several doors open to you.”

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